Vulnerabilities and inclusion

As a territory in transition, the Hauts-de-France Region is undergoing profound changes that require an interdisciplinary study of the effects that societal, historical or cultural changes can produce when they expose individuals, populations and territories to new or increased risks, thus producing new forms of vulnerability. It is also a question of showing how these new forms of vulnerability may interact with the trajectories of individuals or human collectives to impact their well-being, reinforce inequalities or generate exclusion (sometimes from a very young age).

Exposure to risks is not, however, in itself inevitable. Individuals or groups, however vulnerable they may be, are not passive in the face of change. What are their capacities to react and cope with new living conditions? How can they be given the means to take control of their future? What are the personal, social and cultural resources that can be mobilized to resist becoming vulnerable?

What is at stake in the research of this axis of the Hub is understanding and analysing the logics of inequality and the forms of vulnerability linked to current or historical transformations in our societies. This is essential to stimulate and develop inclusive dynamics, which are likely to profoundly modify the relationship of subjects to their environment.

This strand is directly based on the specific regional context specificities and regional initiatives regarding a social and solidarity-based economy, individual and social support, public policy and territorial renewal, considered in their historical, social and cultural dimensions.

 

Principal Investigator (PI): Yannick Courbois